"So it faces competition from a broader range of environmental areas, and overall the climate change research will be diluted significantly by the changes in the Budget.

"There's going to be a whole lot of extra people scrambling for a much reduced pot of research funding."

Professor of horticulture and viticulture at the University of Melbourne, Snow Barlow, says the cuts to CSIRO are 'unfortunate'.

"We'll have to look at the details, but on the surface of it it does seem consistent with moving away from any consideration of climate change in Australia and what the future impacts will be on the nation and how best we can prepare for those," he said.

"There has been an across the board cut in science, as opposed to medical science, in this Budget, without a real vision of where the current Government wishes to go in terms of research and innovation in developing further industries to cope with the demise of the Australian car industry and, into the future, some slightly less contributions made by the mining industry."

Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says the government supports the work of the CSIRO.

"Day-to-day matters, including staffing, are a matter for the CSIRO and the CSIRO is adopting a prudent approach to ensure the efficient delivery of scientific outcomes."